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More on minister's mind than mere relocation of statue-- Deep resentment is brewing in Rampur over attempts of the state Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan to give an alleged facelift to the erstwhile riyasat of Rohilla Pathans. The facts here go much beyond the shifting of the statue of Deen Dayal Upadhyay in obscurity, bang opposite the Ambedkar Park on National Highway 24.
Going by the plaques eulogising
the "efforts of Mr Khan to give a new dimension" to the historic city,
people have been left guessing about the minister's motive behind the newly
acquired role. "We will resist every move of the minister to convert Rampur
into Azambad. His acts have not gone down well with the masses. In the
past, attempts were foiled to change Rampur into Mustafabad. The town has
a great tradition of maintaining communal harmony and spirit of nationalism
against all odds," Begum Noor Bano, former Member of Lok Sabha, told The
Pioneer on Thursday.
Ms Bano, the Begum of Rampur riyasat,
said Mr Khan is suffering from complexes, "otherwise there was no need
to behave and act in such an abnormal manner. In order to preserve the
town's architectural heritage, I have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and President APJ Abdul Kalam to intervene."
Taking a pot-shot at the district administration's move to shift the statue of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Begum Noor Bano said: "Why the statue was removed on the intervening night of June 12 and 13? If the statue was a traffic hazard, then why the administration did not stop the statue's installation at the chowk? What has happened is just a ploy on the part of vested interests to vitiate Rampur's communal fraternity."
"Mr Khan is demolishing the town's historical heritage to put up what symbolises more his self-perceived greatness than anything else. He is indulging himself in absurdity with the hope that he would be able to change Rampur's history. Much to the chagrin of locals, Delhi Gate was broken. He has got erected Babe Ilm (Gate of Education)," Firdos Khan, resident of Mom Kaa Tazia, said.
Referring to the plight of historical monuments, Ms Bano said: "Instead of getting them renovated, the historical legacies are being demolished at the behest of Mr Azam Khan. He wishes the people should remember Rampur for him, and not for its historical significance. If one thinks so, he is simply living in Fool's Paradise."
Located on the crucial Bareily-Nainital-Delhi
highway, Rampur has over 60 heritage buildings and each of them encompasses
the town's glorious historical past. If Raza Library is a historical asset,
ten gates of Rampur tell ten different tales. "Gates were intended to facilitate
hassle free entry for the people into the town. I have urged the Archaelogical
Survey of India to declare Rampur a heritage city," RK Singh, advocate,
said.
Delhi Gate, constructed by Nawab
Faijullah Khan after he made Rampur the headquarters of Rohilla riyasat
in 1775, was demolished on August 26 last year. The people are no more
game to digest such acts. What further astonished them was the shifting
of Deen Dayal Upadhayay's statue. "It was unwarranted. People had no objection
to the statue being there," Shahid Khan, resident of Raj Dwar, said.
"At the behest of Mr Khan, the
historical Model Montessori School in the fort area, the second school
started in UP and first in Rampur, has been closed. The old building is
going to be bulldozed, as Mr Khan is setting up a museum in the name of
Maulana Mohammed ALI Johar, a freedom fighter," Shahid Mehmood Khan, a
local journalist, alleged.
The afficianados of Mr Khan, however,
look at his acts in a different manner. "No one should doubt his commitment
to give a new shape to the town. Since there is space crunch, a few structures
have to be removed if you want to widen the road. Delhi Gate was in tatters.
It could not have been renovated. So it was removed. Other historical structures
are going to remain intact," Sardar Javed Khan, Rampur unit Samajwadi Party
president, said.
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